March 21, 2008
Starbucks Must Return $100 Million In Back Tips to Baristas, Says Superior Court Judge
In a ruling damned as "fundamentally unfair and beyond all common sense and reason" by Starbucks spokeswoman Valerie O'Neil , a superior court judge ruled yesterday that the coffee chain must pay back its California baristas over $100 million in back tips and interest that Starbucks paid to shift supervisors. Oops.
After complaining about shift supervisors dipping into the employee tip jar, former La Jolla Starbucks employee Jou Chou filed a lawsuit back in 2004. The, in 2006, it became a class-action lawsuit with more than 10,000 employees wanting back gratuity returned to them. When the ruling was announced yesterday, Chou said in a written statement:
"I feel vindicated...tips really help those receiving the lowest wages. I think Starbucks should pay shift supervisors higher wages instead of taking money from the tip pool."
And Chou is right. Starbucks illegally took money from the baristas to pay the shift supervisors in lieu of paying them themselves. The coffee house chain, known for its over-roasted taste, "made more than $672 million on revenue of $9.4 billion during its 2007 fiscal year."
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As an ex-barista and shift supervisor (aka lead barista) I have to say, ARE FREAKING KIDDING ME?!?!? I did some daily paperwork and weekly ordering and got paid an extra 50 cents an hour, that's it, 50 cents! (it might have changed since then I don't know) but otherwise I did the exact same job as the baristas.
The shift supervisors are not salaried, they still qualify for over time and all the same benefits of the regular hourly employees they do not really fall in the traditional definition of 'exempt' employees.
If I hadn't also received a share of the tips, considering I spent just as much time taking orders, grinding beans, and frothing milk as the 'regular' baristas I wouldn't have done the job.
So now Starbucks is screwed. Either they will have to make up those lost wages (which was 2-3 tax exempt dollars an hour) or lose a bunch of their employees because.
Are tips in general in lieu of paying the workers a decent wage?
The whole tipping system should be abolished, and I say this as a former waitress. Tipping is entirely too arbitrary, and has been proven in studies to not be awarded for hard work/good service. So you work your ass off to get a buck from some assclown. Even whores get their money in advance.
as a former barista i echo badlydrawnbear.
people who haven't worked in sbux place too much meaning on the word supervisor. my shift supervisors were just like me on the floor, same work for the most part. they deserve part of the tips as they contributed to the atmosphere that led people to giving them.
my overall point is that the shift supervisor are hourly, paid overtime, and performing a nearly identical job aka a non-exempt employee ... "Management" is normally a salaried position, does not earn over time, and who primary duties are substantially different and include oversight and management of hourly employees.
Obviously this is not always the case, and obviously the court disagreed, but I find it difficult having been a barista and a lead barista for Starbucks in the past to have ever considered my positions as management and not primarily front line customer service.